Cystopteris tenuis
Cystopteris laurentiana
cystoptère ténue, Mackay's brittle fern, Mackay's fragile fern, upland brittle bladderfern
cystoptère laurentienne, Laurentian bladder fern, Laurentian fragile fern, St. Lawrence bladderfern
creeping, not cordlike, internodes short, beset with old petiole bases, hairs absent;
scales tan to light brown, lanceolate, radial walls thin, luminae tan.
creeping, not cordlike, internodes very short, less than 5 mm, heavily beset with old petiole bases, hairs absent;
scales uniformly brown to ± clathrate, radial walls brown, luminae clear.
monomorphic, clustered at stem apex, to 40 cm, nearly all bearing sori.
monomorphic, clustered at stem apex, to 45 cm, nearly all bearing sori.
dark at base, mostly green to straw-colored distally, shorter than or nearly equaling blade, base sparsely scaly.
usually dark at base, grading to straw-colored distally, shorter than blade, sparsely scaly at base.
lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 1(–2)-pinnate-pinnatifid, widest at or just below middle, apex short-attenuate;
rachis and costae lacking gland-tipped hairs or bulblets;
axils of pinnae lacking multicellular, gland-tipped hairs.
ovate to narrowly ovate, 2-pinnate to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, widest above base, apex short-attenuate;
rachis and costae usually sparsely invested with unicellular, gland-tipped hairs, occasionally with misshapen bulblets;
axils of pinnae with occasional multicellular, gland-tipped hairs.
typically at acute angle to rachis, often curving toward blade apex, margins crenulate;
proximal pinnae pinnatifid to pinnate-pinnatifid, ± equilateral, basiscopic pinnules not enlarged;
basal basiscopic pinnules sessile, base cuneate to obtuse, distal pinnae ovate to narrowly elliptic.
typically perpendicular to rachis, not curving toward blade apex, margins serrate;
proximal pinnae pinnate-pinnatifid to pinnatifid, ± equilateral, basiscopic pinnules not enlarged, basal basiscopic pinnules sessile to short-stalked, base truncate to obtuse;
distal pinnae ovate to oblong.
directed into teeth and notches.
directed into teeth and notches.
ovate to cup-shaped, without gland-tipped hairs.
cup-shaped, apex truncate, typically sparsely invested with unicellular, gland-tipped hairs.
spiny, usually 39–50 µm. 2n = 168.
spiny, usually 49–60 µm. 2n = 252.
Cystopteris tenuis
Cystopteris laurentiana
Long recognized as Cystopteris fragilis var. mackayi, C. tenuis was returned to species status by R. C. Moran (1983b). It is probably an allotetraploid originating from C. protrusa and an extinct diploid related to C. fragilis (C. H. Haufler 1985; C. H. Haufler and M. D. Windham 1991).
Cystopteris tenuis is common in eastern North America and less frequent at the northern and western perimeter of its range. In the center of its distribution (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania), the narrow, elliptic pinnae angled toward the blade apex and the rounded teeth make C. tenuis relatively distinct from C. fragilis and C. protrusa (although the early season, sterile leaves of C. protrusa often resemble those of C. tenuis). In the west and especially in the northeast, C. tenuis and C. fragilis are difficult to distinguish. For the most part, C. fragilis is confined to higher latitudes and elevations than C. tenuis, but the two species can be sympatric and occasionally form sterile tetraploid hybrids. Cystopteris protrusa and C. tenuis are infrequently sympatric, but where they are, sterile triploid hybrids can occur. Hybrids between C. tenuis and C. tennesseensis are recognized as C. × wagneri (R. C. Moran 1983). Hybridization between C. tenuis and C. bulbifera has also been reported (R. C. Moran 1982b). This hybrid, C. × illinoensis R. C. Moran, is known only from the type and needs to be studied further.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Cystopteris laurentiana is a sexual allohexaploid species with C. bulbifera as the diploid parent and C. fragilis as the tetraploid. Cystopteris laurentiana was previously thought to be common only in the Great Lakes region (R. F. Blasdell 1963); it is now known to occur frequently in the Driftless Area of the Midwest. Because C. laurentiana can be difficult to distinguish from C. fragilis, specimens with ovate leaves having unusually large spores and growing on moist cliffs should be checked carefully for occasional glandular hairs, the distinguishing feature of C. laurentiana. Sterile pentaploid hybrids between C. laurentiana and C. fragilis have been discovered where the two species are sympatric.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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